Ojiro
Saiteki Ōjirō (最適王子郎) is an A-Class Missing Nin from both Konohagakure and Takigakure. History Born the bastard child of Saiteki Ojuro and Ugeki Himeko, Ōjirō spent all his time with his mother, meeting his father only twice after his birth. At age 6, his mother took him and moved to the village of Konohagakure, enrolling him in the Shinobi Academy. Once there, the boy took to the training quickly, and developed an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Ōjirō advanced without pause, and by age 17 had attained the rank of Jōnin, in charge of his own squad of Genin. It didn't last, however, as less than a year later his mother fell ill and never recovered. Distraught by his inability to save her, 18-year-old Ōjirō resigned his rank and fled the village, taking nothing with him save for the clothing on his back. Dodging the squads of Hunter Nin dispatched to find him, he escaped to hide among the mountains, but never relented his quest for knowledge. It was there in the mountains that he stumbled across the Reiketsuna Valley, and met the Sages who lived there. Realizing the vast amount of learning that dropped into his lap, Ōjirō begged and pleaded with the Sages for months to let him stay and train with them. Finally, they agreed, moved by his ironclad determination. Within a handful of years, he had mastered Tokage Sennin Mōdo, as well as greatly deepened his knowledge of Fuinjutsu. He came to realize, too, that he had peaked with his training of the Sages in the Valley, at least for the time being, and that he would need to leave once more in order to continue learning. At age 24, he set out once more, and a month later found himself in the village of Takigakure. His caring and friendly demeanor quickly assimilated himself into the village, and within a year he landed a position in charge of the village library. He poured himself into the books, devouring everything the relatively small village had to offer, including a number of Secret Techniques. Amongst these was a particular Kinjutsu, with which Ōjirō quickly became infatuated, even going so far as to hire a black market surgeon to make the necessary adjustments to his physiology. Learning the technique in secret, the young man changed. Outwardly, he was much the same, slightly more pale if anything. Inwardly, though, he was no longer the charming, friendly, compassionate young man. With this technique, he saw a means of immortality of sorts; a way to prolong his life, and learn everything the world had to offer. He left Takigakure a few months later, but took much more with him before doing so. One the night of his departure, Ōjirō brutally murdered three of the village's most powerful shinobi, and quite literally stole their hearts, using his friendship to catch them off guard and end the fights before they started. Knowing they the two villages would eventually realize they hunted the same man, and coordinate their efforts to find him, Ōjirō fled the continent entirely, where he remained for decades. Recently, he returned to the land of the shinobi, looking very much the same as he did when he left, confident that he was all but lost to the annals of history. Some time after his return, he came across a man named Gaiken Sugoi, and the two of them formed a tentative partnership after learning of the mans ressurection ability. Shortly after this, Sugoi was captured by forces from Iwagakure, resulting in Ojiro reluctantly rescuing the man. While there, he took care to stay under the radar and avoid catching the attention of his sister , the Shodaime Tsuchikage . Following this, the monk headed for Otogakure , with the aim of attaining more hearts for his work. While he was not unsuccessful in doing so, while he was there, the village was attacked by minions of the entity Serean. Only after realizing that the giant was controlled by the ancient spirit did the sage assist in its defeat. He was able to contain and ultimately defeat the former human, but was more concerned with learning about the puppetmaster behind the attack. After its defeat, Ojiro trapped the soul of the man it had once been to learn what had happened. While he would normally leave a village shortly after arriving, the monk decided to stay in Otogakure for a while, due to the presence of a woman, Hisaya. Additionally, he decided to spend his time in Otogakure helping a miko build a proper shrine. Appearance Because of his Jiongu, Ojiro's appearance is that of a man with greyed skin and sunken flesh. His muscles appear almost withered and atrophied, and his body is covered with stitchwork scars. He has dark brown hair, worn short and parted to one side, dyed red on the left side. Lacking any sort of Dojutsu, his eyes are a bright green, almost glowing, with reddish sclera. His typical attire consists of his Reiketsuna headband around his right arm, a tattered red scarf, black slacks, black leather boots and metal vambraces. When travelling, he wears a long, dark red cloak with hood, as well as his white mask. Beneath his clothing, and visible when without his cloak, his muscular form is a roadmap of scars and stitches, and he bares numerous Fuinjutsu seals tattoo'd on his body. Personality Ever the intellectual, Ōjirō is calm and controlled, measuring every word and action for his ultimate benefit. Considered emotionally dead by some of his contacts, nothing provokes an emotional response from the man. This only serves to make him more deadly, never losing his cool in the heat of battle. He prefers, though, to end his battles before they start, gaining the trust of his victims before catching them off guard. While he might be cold and callous, Ojiro also possesses a strong sense of justice, and will not direct his violence at those who do not deserve it in his eyes. He also believes that the strong have a duty to defend the weak, rather than subjugate them. Abilities Despite being an apt and powerful combatant, Ojiro will avoid directly engaging in combat if he can avoid it. Instead, he prefers to let his Corpse Puppets, Nine Masked Beasts, and even his Jingou Mask Beasts fight opponents for him, using numbers to overwhelm his adversary. However, if he cannot avoid it, Ojiro will usually rely on his Jiongu to fight his opponents, using the tendrils to launch surprise attacks at their blindspots or weak points. Thanks to the multitude of hearts he has collected, Ojiro was able to master all five main elements, and can utilize a number of high level techniques from each one. Should he find his opponent too strong to defeat outright, Ojiro can enter Lizard Sage Mode, and gain the power boost such a state offers. With his Shinra Hōin, he can enter this stage quickly without needing to gather natural energy first. Additionally, he can go beyond traditional Sage Mode with his Seven Auras variant, granting him an even higher physical state. Finally, Ojiro is knowledgable in a number of spiritual techniques, making him even more dangerous to those without knowledge of the spirit. Wargear Ōjirō carries with him a veritable arsenal of tools and weaponry, never one to be caught unprepared. These include the traditional shinobi weapons (Kunai, Shuriken etc) as well as a number of specialist gear, such as: *Metal Gauntlets *Amenonuhoko *Shinigami Mask *Corpse Clone: Masane *Corpse Clone: Ichirou * A duel purpose mask that allows the user to filter oxygen from water, as well as filters air. This lets the wearer both spend large amounts of time submerged, and protects them from harmful airborne contaminates. Stats References All artwork and audio clips are property of their respective owners.